Coroner: Cannabis use putting young people at risk of stroke

Heavy use of high-potency cannabis is putting young people at risk of stroke, a leading specialist told an inquest.

Consultant stroke physician Joseph Harbison told Dublin Coroner’s Court that doctors at St James’s Hospital have seen “five or six cases” of young people having strokes following the use of herbal cannabis in the past three years.

The strokes may be linked to the increased potency of cannabis available in Ireland over that period, he said.